The Ministry of Defence will collaborate with Immersive Labs, an
industry leader in cyber resilience, to support the department’s
new Digital Skills for Defence programme to build stronger
digital skills, and follows a successful trial by the British
Army.
Tested against industry benchmarks, the collaboration will see
personnel from the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Strategic
Command and Civil Service engaged, with access to 1,600 realistic
simulations and hands-on cybersecurity labs to evaluate
individual and teams in decision-making against the latest
threats.
As the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report on
the MOD’s Digital Strategy noted, the Department is
showing good practice when it comes to the challenge of modern
conflict rapidly digitising, affecting Defence work and how the
Armed Forces operate in the battlefield.
Minister for Defence Procurement, said:
The NAO has rightly highlighted our focus on remaining at the
forefront of digital capability, which is crucial as the shape of
the modern battlefield continues to change at unprecedented
speed.
Utilising the best technology and brightest minds in industry
will only serve to bolster the rank of cyber experts focused on
protecting the UK.
Exploiting digital capabilities and data is fundamental to our
success in modern military operations and to the effective
running of Defence. Building on the feedback from the NAO report,
the department is striving to build a workforce with the digital
skills it needs to deliver the digital transformation of defence.
The report acknowledged positive progress being made by the
department on bringing together and aligning such digital
practitioners across Defence. However, with a shortfall of
homegrown talent and a very competitive market across the public
and private sectors, the collaboration with Immersive Labs will
also help identify cybersecurity talent to fill open roles and
bolster the ranks of UK cyber experts.
Director of Functional Integration, Claire Fry
said:
The Digital Skills for Defence programme is crucial in our drive
to provide the right digital skills and capabilities across
Defence to take advantage of the opportunity brought about by the
ever-increasing pace of technological change.
Immersive Labs is one of a number of organisations we are working
with to deliver training that will upskill our workforce. This
will enable us to champion our One Defence Mindset and create an
environment where our digital skills can flourish in a unified,
connected and digitally integrated way.
MOD established the Digital Skills for Defence programme to
deliver critical digital skills for Defence Leaders, Digital
Professionals, and the whole Military and Civilian workforce. The
programme is fundamental in building and retaining operational
and business advantage. MOD’s ambition goes beyond education,
seeking to transform to a learning culture where teams work
collaboratively across the organisation.
